Associate Professor Graeme Orr and Dr Andrew Johnston have been awarded funding by the TC Beirne School of Law for the following research project:
The question "What is a 'Trading Corporation'?" may seem like a mix of metaphysics and accountancy. The question has come to the fore however, given the Federal Parliament's power to regulate 'trading corporations' formed in Australia. This power was most notably used in the move towards a national workplace law system in the 2005 'WorkChoices' regime.
The High Court has said, almost tautologously, that a 'trading corporation' is an incorporated body that does some substantial trading. Other judges have questioned whether a political body like a local government, should be lumped in with for-profit companies. Similar uncertainties hang over mutual bodies like trade unions and charities. As a result the reach of 'national' laws to such bodies can be uncertain. A related question is how far federal law can re-make the governance structures of corporations already formed: for example, could it mandate the size of University Senates or the make-up of company boards and the procedures they must follow?
What is lacking is a sense of how or why 'trading corporations' should be a focus of regulation. It is increasingly recognised that the law can only regulate organisations effectively if it gains an understanding of, and works with, their internal governance processes. The extent to which this is possible will be strongly influenced by the courts' approach to the scope of the Constitutional power.
These questions are being examined by Dr Andrew Johnston, a corporate law expert and theorist and Dr Graeme Orr, a labour and electoral lawyer, both of the University of Queensland's School of Law.
The project, titled "'Trading Corporations' - Corporate Theory, Constitutional Definition and Pragmatic Implications" is supported with funds from the School of Law's Contestable Research Funding programme.